Containers



NOV. 4, 1969 HOWELL I 3,476,240

CONTAINERS Filed March 6, 1968 I nvenfor BRYAN G. HOWELL BVMVM A ttorn ey;

United States Patent 3,476,240 CONTAINERS Bryan Gordon Howell, Ampthill, England, assignor to The Metal Box Company Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Mar. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 711,118 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 8, 1967, 10,926/67 Int. Cl. B65d 85/58, 83/04 US. Cl. 206-.82 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coin container of circular cross-section is injection moulded as a unit from synthetic plastics material and has in open end for the insertion of coins and at least one pair of toggle arms concentric with and offset from the side wall of the container, the toggle arms being hinged one to the other and to the side of the container and movable from the concentric position thereof to an angular position in which the arms extend into the container to present a barrier to the egress of coins which span the interior of the container.

Background of the invention Field of the inventi0n.This invention relates to a coin container of circular cross-section having an open end for the insertion of coins into the container and means integral with the container for retaining coins in the container following insertion of the coins into the container.

Summary Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan of a container according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a section on line II-II, FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary views showing parts of FIG. 1 to an enlarged scale, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the mouth end of a container in the closed condition thereof.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, the coin container 1 has an open end for the insertion of coins into the container and the bottom 2 of the container is of annular form having an opening 3 through which the lowermost coin in the container can be seen. The container is of circular cross-section and is injection moulder from synthetic plastics materials, for example from polypropylene.

The container is provided with two diametrically op- 3,476,240 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 posite toggle joints each consisting of two arms 4 hinged one to the other at 5 and to the sides of the container at 6. The toggle joints, in one position thereof as shown in FIG. 1, permit the free passage of coins into the container, and in the other position thereof as shown in FIG. 5, extend into the container towards the axis thereof to present a barrier to the egress from the container of coins which span the interior of the container. In the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawings, each toggle joint extends from the open end towards the opposite end of the container and the hinged axes of the toggle arms are substantially parallel with the axis of the container.

To facilitate the injection moulding of the container, the arms 4 of each toggle joint form a continuous are which is of slightly greater radius than that of the exterior of the remainder of the container so that the inner surface of the are is slightly spaced from the outer surface of the body of the container as indicated at 7. The purpose of so constructing the toggle arms is to permit, during the injection moulding of the container, the formation of an edge 8 which is spaced from the open top of the container and across which the arms of the toggle joints pass when the toggle joint is moved to or from said other position thereof, as shown in FIG. 5, in which the toggle joint presents a barrier to the egress of coins from the container. By this arrangement it is not necessary, following moulding of the container, to form slits in the sides of the container to free the toggle joints from the sides of the container.

It will be understood that, although the toggle joints have been illustrated in the drawings as extending from the open end of the container, the toggle joints may, if desired, be spaced between the opposite ends of the container. Further, if desired, instead of two diametrically opposite toggle joints being provided as shown in the drawings, the container may be provided with only one toggle joint or, if the container be of greater diameter, a number of toggle joints greater than two may be provided and equi-spaced around the body of the container.

As can be seen from the drawings, the hinges 5, 6 are formed by moulded regions which are of reduced thickness. The toggle joints can be pressed inwards either mechanically or manually and likewise can be restored to the open condition thereof by digital or mechanical pressure.

In some instances, it may be desirable to see the contents of the container, for example to check that all the coins in the container are of the same kind. When this is the case the container may be made of transparent or translucent plastics material but if the material from which the container is made is opaque then an inspection slot may be provided in the side of the container to extend lengthwise of the container.

I claim:

1. A coin container of circular cross-section and which has an open end for the insertion of coins into the container, characterised in that the container is injection moulded from synthetic plastics material, that a pair of toggle arms form a continuous arc concentric with the axis of the container and have an inner radius slightly greater than the radius of the exterior of the remainder of the container, that the inner ends of the toggle arms are connected by a hinge axis parallel to the axis of the container and the outer ends of the toggle arms are connected by hinge axes parallel to the axis of the container, and that the toggle arms are movable from said arcuate form thereof about said axes to form an angular projection which extends into the container to present a barrier to the egress from the container of coins which span the interior of the container.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein the container is provided with two diametrically opposite pairs of toggle arms.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1941 Slootsky 229-93 XR 7/1936 Mascarenhas 229-93 4/1963 Lynghave et a1. 2060.82

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

